Young voters are least supportive of higher taxes

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Old voters are more likely to favour high taxes to spend more on public services - yet tended to back to Conservatives. Young voters who are less likely to back tax hikes favoured Labour in last year's election.

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A new generation of low-tax voters is coming of age as younger Britons are less supportive of tax hikes than their older neighbours.

A majority of pensioners want higher taxes, particularly to pay for social care, while overall only 41pc of the population is in favour of more taxation, according to a survey commissioned by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).

That falls to 30pc of those aged 25 to 44, and 22pc of 18 to 24-year olds.

It indicates the “traditional left-right politics is being flipped on its head”, the RSA said, despite Labour winning more support among younger voters in last year’s general election and the Conservatives gaining more traction with their parents and grandparents.

“It is interesting that younger people are not as enthusiastic as the general population, and certainly not as enthusiastic as older voters, to pay for taxes. That is largely due to fact that after 10 years of austerity they don't feel they’ll get too much benefit,” said Ed Cox, director of public services and communities at the RSA.

“It is highly likely that with an ever-expanding NHS, most of the benefits of public spending are accruing to pensioners and those who are using health services. That is where the enlightened self-interest comes in.”

Instead of raising taxes younger voters are more interested in ways to reform public services.

Inequality is a priority among voters of all ages, but younger groups are more likely to see this as an issue of equal opportunities, instead of supporting financial redistributions.

“If we can get past the discussion about Brexit, there is genuine interest in the general public to talk about issues of taxation and public service reform. Young people don't think public services can be delivered in quite the same way they have been historically,” said Mr Cox.

“At the moment it seems the political parties are largely disregarding such an important issue. One wonders at what point they are going to return to focusing on that domestic agenda.”